James



(No Model.)

J. APPLE'I'ON. Decoy Duck.

No. 235,845. Pafented Dec. 28,1880.

NPETERS, PHDTOUTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, n c

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

JAMES APPLETON, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

DECOY-DUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,845, dated December 28, 1880.

Application filed September 11, 1880. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES APPLETON, of

the city of Montreal, in the district of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements on Decoy-Ducks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the said invention.

My invention relates to an improvement on what is known to the public as decoy-ducks and my object is to produce a perfect decoy, at once life-like, of verylittle weight, almost indestructible, and that will require little or no labor on the part of the sportsman to place in position without loss of time on arriving at the sporting-ground, thereby avoiding such defects in other decoys.

Heretofore decoy-ducks made of wood, tin, and other substances have been used by sportsmen and others, butalways found to be defective, inconvenient, and unsatisfactory, in consequence of the bulk and weight, not to say anything of their lack of form or resemblance to the game they are intended to decoy.

The invention consists in a self-inflating cast-rubber decoy-duck, (modeled in imitation of the large blue-bill duck,) with a receptacle or pouch underneath, and forming the breast of the duck proper, running lengthwise, and,in connection, the new mode of constructing the anchor, as more fully hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 is a perspective of adecoy-duck embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of Fig. l.

A is the body of the decoy-duck, consisting of hollow cast-rubber, about one-eighth of an inch in thickness.

0 is a small aperture in the top of the ducks head for the escape of air, thereby allowing the body of the duck to be compressed into small compass and into any desired shape, and on being released from pressure the air entering by this opening will cause the body to resume its original shape, as when cast.

B is a pouch cast in conjunction with the body A, and servingas a receptacle for ballast, which may consist of a flat stone, gravel, or sand picked up from the shore of the sporting-ground,and intended for weighting purposes, to balance the duck when on the water.

D is the anchor, made of thin cast-rubber, in the shape of a bag or pocket about six inches long by four inches wide, into which a stone, gravel, or sand is inserted, the mouth being closed by tightening the cord which passes through the lugs to a, the cord having a knot on the one end,which prevents its being pulled through the holes, the other end of the cord being fastened to the under side of the duck, it first passing through a hole into the pouch B, and knotted on the inside.

Decoy-ducks have been made in England of rubber, but not cast-rubber. They were made on the same principle as life-preservers or childrens balloons, and required to be forcibly inflated through a nipple and then screwed up. These ducks were perfectly useless for the purposeintended, as when struck by a grain of shot they would instantly collapse, and were liable to burst in the act of inflating. Now my improved duck being self-inflating, it cannot burst, and it cannot be destroyed by shot, (unless intentionally;) the rubber shell, being about one-eighth of an inch thick, will resist the shot at long range, and even should a grain or grains of shot penetrate or pass entirely through, the elasticity of the rubber will immmediately close up the hole and the duck remain water-tight, as before. The body, being cast in a mold, will always retain the original shape when not subject to pressure. \Nhat I claim as my invention is- A self-inflating decoy-duck of cast-rubber, in combination with the pouch B and the anchor-pocket D, .substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

Montreal, 26th August, A. D. 1880.

J. APPLETON. In presence of- H. H. GEnnEs, GEORGE OeILvY MOFFATT. 

